There's very little not to like about lasagna—even if you don't like old-fashioned lasagna. With so many options in the sauce, filling and noodle game, you can eat lasagna even if you follow a low-carb diet by substituting sliced zucchini for the noodles, if you're vegan or vegetarian, and if you can't take the tomato sauce.
You can cook it all in one swoop with the lasagna trio pan, something I recently discovered when noodling around Amazon for something else. For less than $20, I bought the pan with three compartments, each roughly 3 inches wide, 13 inches long and about 2 1/2 inches deep—about the size of a 9-by-13 inch baking dish.
You can cook it all in one swoop with the lasagna trio pan, something I recently discovered when noodling around Amazon for something else. Kris Rauro / USA Today Network - Tennessee
And then it sat on a shelf while I fiddled with Instant Pots and got through the holidays. I finally pulled it out and realized that it could be one of the most versatile items in my kitchen.
Quick weeknight lasagna? Check. Lasagna for a family of finicky eaters? Covered. Cake? Might as well make three. Quick bread, same thing. Casseroles? Make three on a Sunday and have the week ahead covered. You could even cook meatloaf in one section, a casserole in another and a loaf of banana nut bread for breakfast in the third to set you up completely for the week. Or you could just use one compartment and leave the others empty on a busy weeknight.
I bought the pan from Chicago Metallic Bakeware because it was the first one I saw, was about $15 at the time (the price has risen on Amazon to $29.99 as I write this, but is available for $19.99 at bedbathandbeyond.com). There are other pans that come with inserts that let you lift the lasagna from the pan when it's cooked; if I were buying today, I'd probably get Chef Tony's as it's about $30. That said, I haven't had too much difficulty removing anything from the pan and often line it with aluminum foil to store each dish separately, anyway, and that makes it easy to lift. You won't be able remove a full lasagna from each section without lining it.
Some tips
The pan has a non-stick coating, so don't use a metal spatula to remove your food. The Norpro My Favorite Spatula is sold as a companion piece on Amazon for under $6 and is narrow and plastic. I bought a flexible spatula at the Williams Sonoma outlet on sale for $2 that works OK, but is a little wide and I think the Norpro would make for easier extraction.
Do coat the pan with a non-stick spray before adding your food. Why not? If you're baking it in, butter and flour it.
Recipe adjustments are easy enough. Treat each compartment as one-third of a 9-by-13 baking dish. If you want to do three different casseroles, divide your recipe by three. If you want three smaller versions of the same thing, you can just mix it up and divide in thirds to cook.
Baking is trickier. On Amazon people write about using the full pan for a 9-by-13 brownie recipe (they like having more edges). A conversion chart for baking pans by volume is available at cooksinfo.com, which also offers sage advice: Pour water in your pan from a measuring cup to calculate the volume. Each section of the lasagna trio pan holds 6 cups of water when filled almost to the top but not overflowing. Baking time will depend on your oven; be safe and set your timer for about half the baking time the first time you bake in your trio pan. It will almost certainly not be done, but it's a good place to start watching.
Bottom line
The pan is handy for both larger families and someone cooking for one or two, and is a space saver if you want to use it in lieu of loaf pans. It's easy to clean and has too many uses to be gimmicky, but isn't flawless. Drawbacks include the width of each section: It's too narrow to use no-boil noodles. But the upside to that is that there is no need to boil lasagna noodles ahead, anyway. Just make sure you have enough sauce and the noodles will cook in the oven.
Have you seen a kitchen gadget you want to see put to the test? Send me an email at biggs@commercialappeal.com and we'll consider it.
Lasagna
Ingredients
4 lasagna noodles (see note)
1/2 pound Italian sausage
2 cups marinara sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg, beaten
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove Italian sausage from casing; discard casing.
Crumble sausage into small 1/4 inch pieces, and then cook in a skillet over medium heat, until brown and crisp. Add marinara to cooked sausage; stir to combine then let simmer 10 minutes.
In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, pepper and egg; mix until well incorporated.
Spread a thin layer of sausage marinara mixture on the bottom of one cavity in the lasagna trio pan.
Lay 1 noodle over the sauce; top with additional sauce and one 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering process, ending with the final noodle topped with sauce.
Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of mozzarella on top.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly on top. Cool 10 minutes before serving.
Note: If you don't want to boil noodles first, stop before you add the cheese to the top of the lasagna. Instead, make sure the last noodle is well covered with sauce and cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake 30 minutes, remove foil and add cheese. Return to oven for about 7 minutes for cheese to bubble and brown. Serves 4-6.
Source: chicagometallicbakeware.com
Chicken-Butternut Squash Lasagna
Ingredients
2 cups prepared Alfredo sauce
3 lasagna noodles
1 cup ricotta cheese (see note)
1 egg
2 cups diced and roasted butternut squash
2 cups cooked chopped chicken
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Directions
Spoon a layer of Alfredo sauce in bottom of one channel of lasagna trio pan. Add one lasagna noodle (uncooked is fine) and top with 1/3 of ricotta cheese, which has been mixed with 1 egg, and half the squash and half the chicken. Pour on some sauce and add another noodle. Top with remaining chicken and squash and add some sauce. Add another noodle and top with 1/2 remaining ricotta and cover with remaining sauce.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil, add cheese and return to oven until cheese is bubbling and lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Serves 4-6.
Source: Jennifer Biggs
Easy Spinach Lasagna
Ingredients
Olive oil to coat pan
1 medium onion, diced
8 ounces baby bella or button mushrooms, sliced
2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup Alfredo sauce
3 lasagna noodles
1 cup ricotta mixed with 1 egg
3-ounce log goat cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Directions
Heat olive oil in skillet and cook onions until soft. Add mushrooms and cook, adding more oil if needed, until lightly browned. Add spinach, salt and pepper and garlic, adjusting to taste. Cook about 5 minutes, until mixture is dry.
Put enough Alfredo sauce in bottom of pan to coat and add a lasagna noodle. Coat with another layer of sauce and then with half spinach mix. Crumble in half the goat cheese and add add another noodle. Coat with Alfredo, add remaining spinach and goat cheese. Add the last noodle and top with ricotta and remaining Alfredo. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes.
Remove foil, add mozzarella cheese and bake for about 7 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned. Serves 4-6.
Source: Jennifer Biggs